A Brooklyn grandmother wishes she could spend the holidays in her home, but her landlord evicted her from her Flatbush apartment while she was away.
Neighbors rallied around Joy Noel, a grandma in her 80s, Thursday morning. Community advocates say the eviction was illegal. Noel notified her landlord over the summer that she’d be traveling for a few months. During that time, the landlord claimed Noel refused to sign a new lease. Noel says she was evicted after failing to show up for a court hearing she didn’t know about.
“I’m an old woman and I want to live in a decent place,” Noel told PIX11 News.
When PIX11 first interviewed Noel on Nov. 13, she was determined to get back home after the eviction from her longtime apartment. Her landlord, Carnegie Management, changed her locks. All of Noel’s belongings were put in storage.
Two days after the PIX11 story aired, Noel learned Carnegie Management was no longer paying for the storage space.
“Your items will be auctioned on the 15th of November,” she was told. “How could you do this to me?”
The Flatbush Tenants Coalition, with help from the city, stepped in to raise money for Noel to keep her items in storage and to buy her winter clothing.
Noel and her landlord will be back in court Dec. 1.
